The assessment of postural control with stochastic resonance electrical stimulation and a neoprene knee sleeve in the osteoarthritic knee

摘要

Objective: To determine whether the combination of stochastic resonance (SR) electrical stimulation and a neoprene knee sleeve could improve center of pressure (COP) measures of postural sway during single-leg stance in those with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Design: Counterbalanced, repeated-measures intervention study of osteoarthritic adults during 6 different testing conditions: a control condition - control 1 (1); a counterbalance sequence of 4 treatment conditions - no stimulation with sleeve (2), 75% stimulation with sleeve (3), 100% stimulation with sleeve (4), and 150% stimulation with sleeve (5); and a second control condition - control 2 (6). Setting: University sports medicine research laboratory. Participants: Subjects (N=52) with radiographically determined, minimal-to-moderate medial knee OA. Interventions: Neoprene knee sleeve and SR electrical stimulation. Main Outcome Measures: COP displacement in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions was collected to resolve the mean velocity, SD, range, and total path length. Results: No significant differences were found in the study measures between the testing conditions. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the 3 stimulation conditions or between the sleeve-alone and stimulation conditions for any of the study measures. Conclusions: There were no significant improvements in balance with the use of a neoprene knee sleeve. Additionally, there was no added benefit of the SR stimulation as applied in the current configuration in this population.